Life Is Good For Nas Atop Billboard Charts

Thanks to his fifth career #1 debut, Life is Good
for Nas will sit atop the Billboard 200 chart next week with his tenth studio album, which sold 149,000 copies, according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan.

The Queensbridge legend had more than enough muscle to hold off last week’s #1 album, the Zac Brown Band’s Uncaged, which slipped 67 percent to #2 on sales of 78,000. Debuting at #3 is the 22nd edition of the Kidz Bop series (64,000), which joins a Hits collection from ex-Genesis drummer Phil Collins in the top 10 (#6, 40,000) and the soundtrack to “The Dark Knight Rises,” (#8, 33,000).

Like the Collins collection, Bruno Mars got a major boost from an Amazon.com 99 cent sale, with his nearly two-year-old Doo-Wops & Hooligans shooting up 124 spots to #11 as sales picked up by 644 percent to 27,000. After debuting at #1 two weeks ago, Chris Brown’s Fortune continued a slow slide, falling nine spots to #13 in week three as sales trailed off by 41 percent to 27,000.

Other new faces on the chart this week: Pierce the Veil, Collide With the Sky (#12, 27,000), Hellyeah, Band of Brothers (#19, 19,000), Old Crow Medicine Show, Carry Me Back (#21, 17,000), Matisyahu, Spark Seeker (#22, 16,000), Baroness, Yellow and Green (#36, 10,000) and Citizen Cope, One Lovely Day (#39, 9,000).

Nas also held down the top spot on the iTunes album chart, followed by Ocean, the Zac Brown Band, the Hans Zimmer score for “The Dark Knight Rises, One Direction, the deluxe version of the Dave Matthews BandAway From the World album, the self-titled debut from The Lumineers, Matisyahu, Maroon 5 and Pierce the Veil.

It’s unclear if Nas will be challenged next week by a slate of new releases that includes the new one from dance rockers Passion Pit, more rousing pub rock from Gaslight Anthem or a hits collection from former “American Idol” judge Jennifer Lopez.